AuthorTopic: 50 Most Important Drummers Of All Time (Read 14518 times)

Ringo Starr. Starr is arguably the single most influential rock drummer of all time. He was born Richard Starkey on July 7, 1940, and gained acclaim in Liverpool playing club gigs with Rory Storme And The Hurricanes in the late ’50s. Starr began drumming with the Beatles in ’61 and remained until the band’s demise in ’70. During those years he literally wrote the rules for pop drumming by providing steady tempos, in-the-pocket feels and hook-laden drum fills for Lennon and McCartney’s timeless material. He has long been a target for critics who complain that his style is too elementary, but simplicity proved to be a virtue in his hands, and became the prototype for every songwriter’s drummer.

moonie was the feller to bring it to the popular music masses though,in the sixties.it had already been done;indeed if you watch moonie a lot of what he was doing was pure krupa.there have been better drummers than keith moon but he was such an inspiration,and nobody has ever played drums like moonie since (or before for that matter).many have tried,but impossible.genius.

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......."but tonight,i just wanna stay in,and be with you"..............

Dont get me wrong, I love Keith Moon, but I have issues with his controlled chaos. I dont think he could play the same thing twice to be honest. Everytime I hear him or see him its like he improvises everything. Thats cool and all, but that doesnt work for me if I had a band.

Dont get me wrong, I love Keith Moon, but I have issues with his controlled chaos. I dont think he could play the same thing twice to be honest. Everytime I hear him or see him its like he improvises everything. Thats cool and all, but that doesnt work for me if I had a band.

you're right really,todd-pure chaos is the correct term....moonie could not have played for anyone else except the who,where he fitted absolutely perfectly.when he played with other bands apparantly it was just a mess.

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......."but tonight,i just wanna stay in,and be with you"..............

since my last post i have played some of my who albums.....i'd forgotten what an outstanding player keith moon was.absolutely magnificent!!some awsome drum sounds on the who albums,also.i think out of ANY band,if i could choose one act to see live it would have been the who,1969-1971 period.scarily brilliant,outstanding use of dynamics,tight as you like.just brilliant.

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......."but tonight,i just wanna stay in,and be with you"..............

like alot of people i've been hearing about the mike myers keith moon biopic movie for a decadedrats, now mike's too old to play keith-i think it's an unlevel playing field judging these drummers due to recording technologies and trendswith all new music (especially since hiphop) the beat is wayyy up in the mix. it usually gets the highest volume and every drum (or button as the case is now) is recorded on it's own track etc etc-when you listen to old who -> the drums are so low and muddy in the mix you can't really get the full effect-and that goes double likewise for big band music

since my last post i have played some of my who albums.....i'd forgotten what an outstanding player keith moon was.absolutely magnificent!!some awsome drum sounds on the who albums,also.i think out of ANY band,if i could choose one act to see live it would have been the who,1969-1971 period.scarily brilliant,outstanding use of dynamics,tight as you like.just brilliant.

I agree with this entire post. I was spinning some Who last night at work on the ipod and he's definately fun to listen to. A live show in the 69'-71' period would be perfect too.

Bonham is just about perfect in my opinion. If I had to pick a drummer for my band, he would be the drummer hands down. I dont have enough good things to say about his drumming.

Jason is indeed a fantastic drummer also.

yeah,agreed.although bonzo is not quite my favourite player,he did have the whole lot sewn up.dynamics,power,subtlety when needed,chops,agression,the sound,everything.not long ago roger taylor (queen) summed bonzo up on a documentary......"yes,he was the best player.basically he could do things the rest of us couldn't do."you do not get voted the best rock drummer of all time year after year for nothing.just the best.....enough said.

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......."but tonight,i just wanna stay in,and be with you"..............

rock drumming?bonzo for suremoon..mitch mitchell - agile and cuts like a chiselcharlie watts - an understated anchorstewart copeland - thoughtful world beat percisionbut to you drummers i'm curious,what do you think of the drummer from the steve miller band?pretty straightforward and direct but... damn... he suits the tune and his beats always rock !

rock drumming?bonzo for suremoon..mitch mitchell - agile and cuts like a chiselcharlie watts - an understated anchorstewart copeland - thoughtful world beat percisionbut to you drummers i'm curious,what do you think of the drummer from the steve miller band?pretty straightforward and direct but... damn... he suits the tune and his beats always rock !

all those guys were/are great.the guy who plays for steve miller is a fine,fine player also.lots of people do not realise it takes more than picking up sticks and hitting drums to be able to hold it down at a good level.it's the easiest instrument to get a sound out of-and the hardest to be any good at.you'll never master it.

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......."but tonight,i just wanna stay in,and be with you"..............

what do you think of the drummer from the steve miller band?pretty straightforward and direct but... damn... he suits the tune and his beats always rock !

Gary Mallaber is who I think your talking about (Steve Miller had a lot of drummers). He played on most of the hits. His groove on 'Swingtown' is amazing. He was was warming up one day with that groove before recording and Steve liked it so well he wrote a song around it.

I like all drummers. Seriously, there isnt one I dislike. I just watched a documentary on the White Stripes the other day, and I payed special attention to Meg White (heads out of the gutter please). She gets slammed all the time for being maybe the worst drummer to ever make it. Regardless of her skill level, I challenge any drummer to sit down and follow her through an entire album. Sounds simple right? Its not. Its a level in frustration. Not one fill through an entire album. Its painstaking. The energy level builds in a song and your ready to unleash something, but you cant because she doesnt. You have to hold back. Its like if your starving and you get to sit down to the biggest dinner you have ever see, yet you cant eat. A study in willpower.

Yes GO, the drums are the easiest instrument to get noise from, but a proper noise is something different altogether. You can never master it.